Answering Common Questions about Becoming a Writer

1. How do I get started as a writer?

To become a writer you only really need to do one thing. Write. Just do it. Don't worry about it being good or what others are going to think of it. Just write. This does two things. First it gets you in the habit of writing. Developing the habit of doing a writing activity every day will help to battle procrastination, writer's block, and the big problem of finding time to write. If you have a schedule you will train yourself to be in the mindset of writing at a certain time and place.

The second thing that this will do is it will give you practice. The more you write the more you will begin to develop your own style and voice. You will begin to see the areas where you struggle and from there you can challenge yourself to improve. What parts do you like in your writing? What parts do you feel need work? Why do you feel this way about these areas?

2. How do I deal with writer's block?

Writer's block is a common problem that many face. That mental blockage where you just don't know where to go from here. It doesn't just effect writer's either. Many people have gotten to a point where they want to move forward with something but they just don't know how. They don't know where to go or how to get there. One of the things that I try to do in these cases is take a break. Sometimes when you are so focused on something you miss what might be obvious. Taking a breather, a step away from the project can give your mind unexpected clarity on the subject. Maybe you were trying to force something to go a certain direction which kept you from seeing that maybe going somewhere else is better for the story or your character.

Another thing to do while taking this break is to expose yourself to other pieces of art. Music, movies, video games, podcasts, TV shows, or just other books. You might find something that sparks an idea for where to go next in your own WIP (work in progress). Perhaps a painting of a sunflower will remind you of the time where you were at camp and were picking flowers and were stung by a bee. Maybe you should put your MC (main character) in a similar situation. What would they do? Are they allergic? Just by keeping your mind open to the flow of ideas while you are away from your work can help alleviate writer's block.

Along these lines I also mentioned a book called Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon which I felt was inspirational and a helpful way of looking at things. Austin goes into his 10 ideas on how to be creative. The main idea being stealing little pieces of other people's work. Like a creative magpie out in the world stealing the little gold and glittering ideas that spark your own interest. He directly states that this does not mean plagiarism. You don't want to copy a James Bond novel and call your character Jamal Bonk. But perhaps you like how smooth and suave James Bond is so you create a character who is also smooth and suave. However, perhaps he is a teacher instead? Like Jack Black's character in School of Rock, but instead of teaching music he is teaching kids how to be spies... or no, even better, thieves. Yeah, thieves like the Ocean's Eleven movies. I should be writing this down...

3. What are the steps after you finish writing your book/story to get it published?

As I mentioned in my chats with the students, I once thought that after I finished writing the story I was done. But there is a lot more to do. From editing, formatting, illustrating, designing the cover, promoting, purchasing ISBN's, creating blurbs, choosing a printing company, etc. (I could go on for what seems like forever.) There are a lot of things that go into a finished book. I may go into more detail on this question in a later blog but one of the examples I gave in the classroom was how each of these different things may effect the other and you may end up doing double the work because you did them out of order. For instance, I formatted my book (headers, footers, page breaks, etc.) before I chose a print size. Once I chose the print size I found out that all that formatting that I did was off and I had to go back and do it all again. Live and Learn.

4. How do I start?

The only way to start becoming a writer is to write. Forget everything else. Don't worry if you are good enough or if you will make money doing it. Just do it. If you enjoy doing it then you will do it whether you make money at it or not. So just start. Write whatever you want. It doesn't have to stick to any rules or structures. Don't worry about making it perfect yet. Start the habit of writing first. Once you have the habit in place then you can start to worry about the other things.

If you are unsure about what it is you want to write (stories, poems, etc.) then try a little bit of everything. See what you like best. I started out writing poetry as a teen as a way to express myself and process every day life. Then I moved on to the longer story form of writing and have stuck with it. You don't have to stick with a certain style or format either. Just because you write a novel doesn't mean you can't also write poetry, or blog on your author website.

5. Can I make a living as a writer?

Of course you can, but it takes time, hard work, and persistence. There are many different ways to go about making money as a writer from freelancing or blogging to writing a novel or becoming part of a writer's room for SNL. It just depends on where you want to go with your writing. And sometimes the path you take leads to a different destination. There are some ways that you may be able to get hired on as a writer and begin making money on a regular occurrence, but a lot of writers have to build up to that point of actually getting that paycheck. They built up a portfolio of their work to show to potential clients or agents. Then there is the route of a self-published author where you end up paying to get your work published.

As I informed the students about the costs that I had to pay up front in order to self-publish my book a student asked me if it was possible to publish a book for free. Yes it is possible to publish a book for free through KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) or D2D (Draft 2 Digital), however, the issue with this is that you will be doing a lot more of the work yourself. Self-publishing already forces you to wear a lot of hats besides just being the writer. If you want to do it for free then all the people I mentioned previously in the steps after finishing your story... those all become you. Truthfully, I don't think that many people are talented enough that they can do all of it alone. You will need help. You will need other eyes on the project. And unfortunately, help and eyes cost money.

Conclusion

Meeting with the students was a delightful experience. I hope that I was encouraging and that some of them may pursue a career in writing. I also hope that sharing my journey on here provides some guidance on your own journey. Whether you're in middle school or an adult, anyone can become a writer with dedication, practice, and a love for storytelling. So, if you have a passion for writing, don't be afraid to pursue it!